Tom Hacke was driving the car, with Ryan and his 3-year-old brother, Matthew, as passengers. They were stopped at a red light behind his wife, Mary Beth, in Homestead when Vaughn Mathis started shooting.

"There was just this 'pop' in the windshield of the car and the bullet actually grazed me, and I looked up and I saw the perpetrator standing on the corner with two hands on the gun, and he was just squeezing the trigger," said Tom Hacke. "I just remember flames shooting out and my immediate reaction was to scream to my children 'duck.'"

Tom Hacke said when the gunfire stopped, he realized Ryan was hit in the eye.

"I was just trying to holler back to Ryan, holding his hand, saying, 'Hold on, hold on, buddy. Just live, just hang on," said Tom Hacke.

Mary Beth said walking into the emergency room was her most terrifying moment.

"I saw my husband on the floor, with only the wall to hold him up. My 3-year-old was on a chair with such fear in his eyes," said Mary Beth Hacke. "A nurse was comforting him and I'm searching for Ryan, and I'm screaming, 'Where is my Ryan?'"

Ryan died two days later. Vaughn Mathis was convicted of killing the boy, but 17 years later, he's up for parole.

The Hackes have been collecting signatures on a petition and asking people to "like" their Justice for Ryan Hacke Facebook page. They will travel to Harrisburg Feb. 18 to make a statement to the parole board, asking it not to release the convicted killer.

They are one of the first in Pennsylvania to be allowed to address the parole board. In September 2013, the board began allowing victim impact statements.

The Hacke family said they will carry their petition, along with letters from the community, to make a statement. They said the community's support has been their strength all of these years.

REPORTING LIVE IN ARNOLD, WESTMORELAND COUNTY, BOB MAYO, CHANNEL 4 "ACTION NEWS." THANK YOU, BOB. ONLY ON 4 TONIGHT, A TODDLER MURDERED RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS PARENTS AND BROTHER. RYAN HACKE'S DEATH IS A TRAGEDY THAT HAS IMPACTED OUR AREA FOR MORE THAN A DECADE NOW, BUT NOW WITH HIS KILLER UP FOR PAROLE, THE HACKES ARE ASKING FOR THE COMMUNITY'S HELP. CHANNEL 4 "ACTION NEWS" REPORTER MARCIE CIPRIANI SPOKE WITH THE PARENTS TODAY AND HAS A LOOK BACK AT THE DAY RYAN WAS SHOT. Reporter: IT WAS 1997, 17 YEARS AGO WHEN MARY BETH AND TOM HACKE TELL ME THEY PULLED OUT OF THIS LOT BEHIND ME, WHICH USED TO BE A GAS STATION, AND THEY DROVE UP TO A LIGHT HERE AT EIGHTH AND HAYES. MARY BETH WAS IN THE CAR IN FRONT OF TOM AND THEIR CHILDREN. SHE TELLS ME SHE LOOKED AROUND THAT CORNER AND NOTICED A MAN LIFT HIS HAND AND FIRE THE SHOT THAT MURDERED THEIR BABY. HIS LITTLE PERSONALITY WAS JUST STARTING TO BLOOM. Reporter: 14-MONTH-OLD RYAN H HACKE WAS JUST BEGINNING TO WALK, CLIMB AND TALK IN 1997. "DADDY!" HE'D SCREAM. Reporter: AND LITTLE RYAN JUST LEARNED HOW TO SAY HIS LAST NAME. AND HE'D SAY, RYAN HACKE. Reporter: ON THE DAY HE WAS KILLED. THERE WAS JUST THIS POP IN THE WINDSHIELD OF THE CAR. AND YOU KNOW, THE BULLET HAD ACTUALLY GRAZED ME. AND I LOOKED UP AND I SAW, I SAW THE PERPETRATOR STANDING ON THE CORNER WITH TWO HANDS ON THE GUN. THE WHOLE TIME I'M LOOKING IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR, BECAUSE EVERYTHING WENT IN SLOW MOTION. AND I'M THINKING, PLEASE, DON'T LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO MY HUSBAND AND MY BABY. Reporter: BUT RYAN HAD BEEN SHOT IN THE EYE. HIS FATHER SPED TO THE HOSPITAL IN A PANIC. I WAS JUST TRYING TO HOLLER BACK TO RYAN, HOLDING HIS HAND AND SAYING, "HOLD ON, HOLD ON, BUDDY," YOU KNOW, JUST LIVE, JUST HANG ON. Reporter: MATTHEW, NOW IN COLLEGE, WAS JUST 3 AND SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO HIS BABY BROTHER. FOR MARY BETH, THE MOMENT SHE ARRIVED AT THE EMERGENCY ROOM WAS HER MOST TERRIFYING. I'M SEARCHING FOR RYAN AND I'M THINKING WHERE'S MY RYAN? Reporter: RYAN DIED TWO DAYS LATER. HE WOULD BE 18 TODAY AS HIS KILLER PREPARES FOR PAROLE. VAUGHN MATHIS IS A NAME TOM AND MARY BETH HACKE WON'T MUTTER, BUT HE IS SOMEONE THEY PLAN TO CONTINUE TO FIGHT. LAST YEAR THE PAROLE BOARD CHANGED ITS RULES TO ALLOW VICTIMS TO SPEAK. FEBRUARY 18th, THE HACKES WILL DO THAT ALONG WITH THEIR THREE OTHER CHILDREN, BRINGING LETTERS AND A PETITION FROM THE COMMUNITY. THEY SAY THE COMMUNITY'S SUPPORT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS HAS BEEN THEIR STRENGTH. I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY BROKEN HEART. Reporter: IF YOU'D LIKE TO SIGN THEIR PETITION OR LIKE THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE, YOU CAN DO